...and now for something completely different yet very familiar!
These cakes popped into me Facebook feed this week. I thought at first they were some kid of Battenberg, and you know I like making those. But no, these are different. They’re a Malaysian layer cake, but specific to Sarawak they get seriously colourful, as opposed to just being a layer cake done Malay style.
I’m a believer in the power of the big old universe, so clearly I was meant to make one of these for Amanda’s birthday, I’d planned to take the day off, and as these cakes take more than 3 hours it was a good job I had.
Quite a bit of preparation, mostly counting how many bowls I’d need, the recipe seemed to just keep saying “in another bowl”!
Not shown is the first part, which was sifting the plain flour and cornflower into a bowl, or the second part, melting some butter and condensed milk, the purpose of that will be revealed shortly... That’s two bowls by the way...
Here’s the butter, sugar and egg yolks, condensed milk and sunflower oil, all ready to put to one side...while in another bowl... So bowls three and four...
Egg whites and sugar and cream of tartar, and whisking, ie meringue, but not to make a meringue...
So, here we have folded the meringue into the creamed butter, sugar and egg yolks, seven of those by the way, and this is the reduced egg recipe, and then folded the flour into that to get to the actual batter for the cake. But we have to divide into three lots, two small ones and a big one.
You take a little from each small bowl, oh, bowls five and six, but I’m reusing bowls now so I’ll,have to stop counting! Anyway, you put the colouring into the little you too out, mix up, and then fold back in. Separate spoons for the folding else it will go badly wrong. See last photo for what would happen if you did mx your red and green...not nice cake colour...
Remember that butter and condensed milk? Well, you brush that onto the thin layer you’ve just baked, 5mins turned halfway through. Then put 100g of green mixture on top and spread out, then back that fro 5mins, turning halfway.
You do that again back to plain mixture...
...and then again with red mixture...
...and then plain mixture...
...and green mixture...at which point you realise that taking the photos is a good idea...and also that you’d best list out the layers and tick them off as you do each, because otherwise you might forget what was next...
...plain...
...red...
And top off with plain....
Then get that put, let it cool, and get the rest of the plain mixture on the tray ie Swiss roll style...
Now this has cooled enough to get and and let cool some more...oooo you can see something here....
...now that’s cooled enough to cut...don’t worry, those trimmed off bits came to no harm...they tasted very nice, cooks privileges ;)
...and join, using condensed milk as glue, wrap and pop to chill for 30mins...
...there were still bits leftover...which I decided should be saved for later...
Now, wrap in the thin layer of cake...using condensed milk to glue...
Put in the fridge to chill for two hours...and let you awesome wife cut for her birthday :)
.now, in case you were worried about the leftover batter...don’t be, I made some little cakes with that...
...and yuk...green and red makes brown...the colour your plasticine all ended up as and the colour of the paint jar if you kept sticking the same brush back in...
